Menu security controls which menu functions a user can perform.
This system was originally designed as a follow-on product for S/36 and S/38. Many system installations were, at one time, S/36 or S/38 installations. To control what users could do, security administrators on those earlier systems often used a technique that is referred to as menu security or menu access control.
Menu access control means that when a user signs on, the user sees a menu. The user can perform only those functions that are on the menu. The user cannot get to a command line on the system to perform any functions that are not on the menu. In theory, the security administrator does not have to worry about authority to objects because menus and programs control what users can do.